Before The Storm
by xXBalorBabeXx
Summary: No one ever really takes bad news well... lashing out is an immediate reaction. When Amanda finds comfort during the aftermath of Corey's violence, what will be the fallout? (Set in late 2014 to early 2015)
1. Chapter 1

The day seemed to drag on forever as Amanda stopped in the hallway, closing her eyes. The atmosphere was tense and Amanda knew why.

Corey Graves had been told earlier today that his neurological issues left him no choice but to retire from wrestling… and it pissed him off.

Amanda heard Corey walk over and start shouting at her but decided to ignore him… or try to.

"Hey, listen to me, you career wrecking bitch!" Corey shouted as he grabbed Amanda's slender shoulders forcefully and shook her violently, Amanda yelling at him to let her go.

"Sami, do you hear that?" Finn asks as his and Sami's heads snapped up, the arguing getting louder. A sickening crashing sound made them jump out of their skin after they exited locker room, seeing the back and right side of Amanda's head hit the mirror. Sami and Finn ran over to them, Sami shoving Corey back as Finn crouched down to check on a now bleeding Amanda.

It wasn't just her head and face that hit the mirror… Amanda had a glass shard sticking out of her right shoulder, which had old scar damage from an accident when she was 16.

"Don't touch it, we'll let the doctor sort it out." Finn whispered when Amanda tried to yank the shard out.

"It's not her fault that your concussion issues forced your wrestling career to stop!" Sami yelled at Corey.

"How is it fair that she has similar neurological issues and still gets to wrestle?!" Corey shouts, Sami punching him and knocking Corey down. Corey stood up, his mouth bleeding, and stormed off as Sami crouched down next to Finn and Amanda.

Amanda was blinking her tears away, shaken up violently to the point where she wasn't talking. It had all hit her too fast and it was frightening seeing Corey like that.

Finn slinked one arm under Amanda's knees and the other around her back, easily picking her up because of how light she was compared to him and Sami, the two taking Amanda to the medical room.

 **Finn's P.O.V**

That was scary as hell when I saw Amanda's head and face hit the mirror… damn it, Corey, Amanda was the one who recommended that you see the WWE doctors, she was worried sick when you hit your head on those steel steps in your last match!

Amanda's mouth is cut open and the right side of her jaw is too but the cuts are bandaged, the only injury to her head is a bruise on her scalp… I'm thankful that they have MRI machines here.

The worst injury is to her shoulder, ten stitches in it… but she's still not talking.

"Mandy?" I say, lightly rubbing my hand up and down her back. Nothing.

"Lass?" I say, Amanda carefully turning her head and looking at me.

She's stopped shaking but she's still scared…

"I… I didn't want… another one to end up dying… in that ring…" Amanda says… and then I realise why she's upset.

Like many other fans and young wrestlers back in 1999, Amanda watched the Over The Edge pay per view and it was the night Owen Hart died after falling almost 80 feet from the harness to the ring, bashing his head and chest on the ring rope.

"Owen was dying when they took him out of that ring." I say, Amanda nodding. "Amanda, you were looking out for Corey… that's what makes you a sweetheart, you really do care about your fellow co workers." I say, Amanda leaning against me as Sami walked in.

"Hey… security escorted him out of the building. They'll have him announce it next week." Sami says.

"Still want to go through with the show tonight?" I ask Amanda, who nods.

"They gave me some painkillers, I'm okay now." Amanda says before we leave the medical room, reaching our locker room.

 **Amanda's P.O.V, A few minutes later…**

"Much better…" I say after reapplying my cat eye makeup, concealer and bronzer so I don't look like I've been crying when we go live tonight… and to hide the terror left by Corey's violent outburst.

I should really press assault charges against him, I was trying to help by recommending that he see the doctors… little punk lashed out and did this to me.

"Ah, there's our favorite lass." Finn says after I rejoin him and Sami.

Incident or not, the show must go on...


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Shoutout to nafiondf aof for reviewing the first chapter and traceandpierre for reading my stories. I like the suggestion of Finn and Mandy running off and eloping, I will add it into a future story, nafiondof aof. :)**

 _Crockett's Theme_ by Jan Hammer played through the earbuds Amanda had plugged into her phone while running the Pandora app on it to try to calm her nerves during tonight's show. Finn had a match against Viktor, which worried the tiny brunette.

Although Amanda liked Viktor and respected him as a fellow wrestler, she was nervous because Konnor, Viktor's tag team partner in The Ascension, was a bit intimidating.

 _What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)_ by Information Society started playing and although Amanda wanted to get up and start dancing around the locker room, she was told to take it easy tonight. High energy songs always brought her energy back up, they made her feel better and Finn and Sami liked that she grew up listening to similar music that they grew up listening to, despite Amanda being in her mid 20s, Sami being 30 and Finn being 33.

"Hey. My match is up next, lass." Finn says, Amanda exiting out her Pandora app before putting her phone and earbuds in her duffel bag, bouncing up to her feet before Finn could stop her. "Easy now, you took a hell of a blow earlier. And you did take your anti seizure meds?" He says.

"Yep. Every 12 hours, like clockwork." Amanda says before the two left the locker room and walked to the curtain separating them from the cheering fans as Amanda started singing _Misunderstanding_ by Genesis, Finn singing along with her.

"Hey, you two, those fans are going crazy." Bayley says as she jogged over to them, wrapping her arms around their shoulders and kissing them on their foreheads, Amanda flinching as the dull ache briefly resurfaced, Bayley lightly patting Amanda's left shoulder before leaving as _World In My Eyes_ by Depeche Mode blared throughout the arena, the song being Amanda's theme song while she was training in OVW.

"And the opponent, being accompanied by Amanda Cena… Finn Balor!" Jojo says in an upbeat voice as Finn and Amanda walked out to the ring, Amanda waving at Dusty Rhodes and Dusty returning the gesture with a wave of his own.

"Finn Balor and Amanda Cena have really been joined at the hip since Finn started training at the WWE Performance Center back in July but both caught the fans attention long before they even met each other! Finn started his wrestling career in 2000 at 18 years old and Amanda caught the WWE's attention back in 2005 when she started training at 15 back in the old OVW territory!" Dusty says enthusiastically.

"Amanda really did capture a lot of fans hearts and it didn't take too long before she was wrestling on WWE Raw, ECW when it brought back and pay per views… and you're right, Dusty. Given the wrestling eras she grew up watching, it's not far off that Amanda, like many others before her, started training while still a teenager." Byron says as Amanda and Finn get into the ring.

"Fans who are just joining us, we started the broadcast with some startling news. There was an incident earlier today involving Amanda Cena and Corey Graves. Not all the details are known at this time but Corey was escorted out of the arena by security shortly afterwards. I seriously hope Amanda's injuries aren't as bad as they look but you can tell from the wounds that that little lady is hurting." Dusty says as Finn and Amanda hug, Finn helping her out of the ring and lightly swatting Amanda's right hip, Amanda smiling before she jumped down off the apron.

"Be careful, Mandy." Finn says.

"I'm okay, Finn." Amanda says.

"The back and forth banter between those two kids is always welcomed and enjoyed by the fans." Dusty says before the bell rings and Finn and Viktor started wrestling, the match progressing smoothly and Amanda and Konnor glancing and nodding at each other, speaking briefly.

"We can't exactly hear what Amanda and Konnor are saying but from the body language shown by both, there is definitely respect there." Byron says.

The match was almost over as Finn jumped onto the top turnbuckle and off it, Viktor screaming out in pain as one of his ribs cracked, Finn immediately pinning Viktor and winning the match, the bell ringing as Amanda and Konnor rushed into the ring, Amanda raising Finn's hand in victory as Konnor helped Viktor up.

"I guess I'm still wound up from earlier… sorry, lad." Finn says as he and Viktor shook hands.

"Don't worry about it. If I saw someone violently shake a tiny girl before throwing her into a mirror, I'd be wound up too." Viktor says before all four left the ring.

"How you feeling, any more pain?" Finn asks after pulling Amanda aside backstage.

"I'm okay, nothing's broken and the cuts and stitches should disappear within a week or two." Amanda says, Finn lightly holding her left hand in his right one, their eyes locked with each other.

Finn rested his left hand on Amanda's right side and the two were about to kiss on impulse when Sami ran up to them, giving them a bit of a jump scare.

"Damn it, Sami! Have you been drinking espresso again?!" Finn says, him and Amanda startled.

"Maybe a cup or two… come on, we were all up early today." Sami says, Amanda carefully moving her injured right shoulder around to loosen up the stiff and damaged nerves.

Sami sometimes startled Amanda with how he easily drank strong coffee… it also didn't take much to wire her up.


	3. Chapter 3

The second Amanda, Finn and Sami walked into Finn's apartment and the door closed, Amanda took a deep breath, closed her eyes and let the facade she had built up through the show drop.

Amanda immediately walked to the couch and sat down, Finn following her and sitting down as Sami looked for something to snack on in the kitchen. When Sami ventured out into the living room, Amanda was resting her head in Finn's lap and Finn was lightly stroking her hair, Sami seeing that Amanda had fallen asleep.

"Those painkillers really knocked her out." Sami says.

"Today and tonight really took a lot out of her… what psycho bastard grabs someone so tiny, shakes her so violently and then throws her right into a fucking mirror?!" Finn said in a low tone, something he only did when he was truly angry.

"Head injuries and neurological deficits really impair our judgment and logical thought." Sami says.

"It's still no reason to go attack someone who tried to help." Finn says, Amanda groaning sleepily and squeezing Finn's left thigh as a way of saying _"Please stop talking about it, I just want to forget."_ , Finn helping Amanda sit up when she opens her eyes. "Sorry, lass… it just… really shook us up." He says, brushing Amanda's tears away.

Amanda hugged Finn and Sami before standing up and grabbing her duffel bag, unzipping it and grabbing her pajamas before disappearing into the first floor bathroom. Once she had gotten changed and cleaned her makeup off, Amanda rejoined them and put her clothes in the bag, zipping it up.

Finn walked over and pulled Amanda into his arms, cradling her close to him as they hugged and Amanda cried, Sami lightly rubbing his hand up and down her back.

"It's okay, let it all out, kiddo." Sami says softly.

Amanda eventually cried herself out, Finn picking her up and taking her upstairs before putting her in the bed after pulling the covers down. Finn pulled them over her before disappearing into his own bathroom, changing into his pajamas.

When he returned to his room, he found that Sami had brought Amanda's duffel bag up and set out Amanda's phone, anti seizure medicine and a bottle of water. Finn walked to the other side of the bed and climbed in it, pulling the covers over him and dozing off into sleep.

Amanda groaned a few hours later as her alarm went off and sat up, shutting it off before taking one of her Keppra and swallowing it with water before closing the prescription bottle and setting it down before drinking some more water.

Closing the bottle after drinking half of it, Amanda lies back down in the bed as Finn snored away… but he wasn't unaware of his surroundings, wrapping his arm around Amanda's back and leaning in, sleepily kissing her on her forehead.

"We can… fall back asleep. Provided that Sami's not awake already." Finn says after opening his eyes.

Amanda nodded, closing her eyes and falling back asleep, Finn following her seconds later…

" _Let's take a break, catch our breath… and possibly get the feeling back in our legs." Finn says as he and Amanda were lying down in the ring on a cool October evening at the WWE Performance Center._

 _They had been running through the script for Finn's debut match, which was pushed back because Tyson Kidd was dealing with a knee injury and Justin Gabriel had unexpectedly ended up sick with the flu, which had been going around the locker room lately._

 _Finn looked at Amanda and noticed something in the way the tiny 24 year old stared at the ceiling._

" _Thinking back, lass?" Finn asks, Amanda nodding._

" _I used to walk out into the arena when the ring and barricades were finished being built for the show that night. I'd climb in the ring and just… lie down and stare up at the rafters as if… I was staring up at the heavens themselves. Hoping Eddie was watching, looking back at me… that was back when Chris was still alive." Amanda says, Finn turning onto his left side to face her._

" _They'll always live on in your heart… I know it's not much comfort given how Eddie died unexpectedly and the violent nature behind Chris and his wife's and son's deaths but they still watch over the ones they love… especially the one they love like family." Finn says, Amanda sniffing a bit as tears ran down her face._

" _It's just… I always thought they'd be alive. They all were too damn tough to let anything kill them." Amanda says as she turned to face Finn, who reached over and lightly brushed her tears away while trying to hide his own, Amanda resting her hand on the right side of Finn's face._

 _For a split second, Amanda thought she saw Chris's spirit in the corner of the room… he smiled kindly, mouthing 'He's right, little one.' before fading away._

 _Finn lightly gripped Amanda's hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing it before they hugged each other._

" _Hey! You're not supposed to fall for your trainer!" Both heard, Finn looking and seeing Sami, who was smiling._

" _Go find Kevin and mess with him!" Finn replied in the same joking tone._

" _I barely walked in and said hello before he kicked me out of his locker room! Literally!" Sami says._

" _Oh, I forgot. I was helping Kevin get ready for his match, kicked the back of his left knee out and he stopped me before I could finish the move I was going for! He yelled at me that I'm too dangerous and limped out." Amanda says._

" _Eh, he gets mad when someone smaller kicks his ass." Sami says._

" _Wouldn't you? Hey, sorry for tossing you out, pal." Kevin says after walking over to the three, Sami nodding._

" _I've had worse done to me." Sami says._

" _And Amanda? Sorry about snapping at ya." Kevin says after turning to Amanda._

" _People have yelled worse things at me." Amanda says._

" _Your legs numb, you two?" Sami asks as he and Kevin get in the ring, both pulling Amanda and Finn up to their feet._

" _Yeah… okay, one foot in front of the other." Finn says, locking his left arm with Amanda's right arm before the two, Sami and Kevin left the ring._


	4. Chapter 4

" _Hell of a blow to the face, I don't think she was the intended target but it obviously hurt Amanda!" Byron says after Amanda screamed out in pain and shock. Being punched in the face always hurt and jarred Amanda's neck at times… she was used to getting hit unexpectedly, sometimes wrestlers got crazy._

 _Hell, she got crazy herself in that ring… but she thought that Corey knew better than to use her as a human shield against a pissed off Kevin Owens._

" _Well, obviously it was accidental!" Corey says to Byron before turning to Amanda and trying to help her. "Amanda, you alright?!" He says, Amanda shoving him away, bolting up to her feet and ripping the commentator's headset off._

 _Amanda and Corey had joined Dusty and Byron on commentary for Finn's match against Kevin Owens and Owens, while attempting to strike Corey for something Corey had said on commentary, punched Amanda instead._

" _Accidental?! You pulled me in front of you, you stupid ass son of a bitch! That was no fucking accident, you're just a damn coward, Graves!" Amanda yelled, her mouth split open as Finn tried to calm Amanda down._

" _Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for what Amanda's saying! We do not condone that kind of language on NXT or WWE Tv, no matter what happens or how angry our wrestlers might be!" Byron says._

" _No, let her keep at it! It's funny watching a so called reformed bad girl lose it completely!" Kevin says after laughing maniacally, finding Amanda's pain and bad language amusing… he was unaware of Amanda's building rage._

 _Amanda snapped and ran right at Kevin, who screamed as Amanda tackled him and started bashing his head against the floor as Finn ran over, managing to pull Amanda off of a now bleeding Kevin._

" _Is that funny, huh?! Is that fucking funny, Owens?! You don't find it funny, then you shouldn't laugh when you fucking hurt someone else, you heartless prick!" Amanda yelled at Kevin, who was leaning against the barricade and was shocked that Amanda did that to him._

 _Finn dragged Amanda backstage to their locker room and tried to calm her down, grabbing some tissues and pressing them to Amanda's mouth after brushing Amanda's hair out of her face._

" _I hope they were bleeping you out on camera, lass. There are young fans in that audience and…" Finn says._

" _Young ones watching at home… it's never pretty when I lose my temper, especially on live Tv. Damn, I most likely put Kevin out of action with that beating but he had no right to laugh his ass off." Amanda says as Sami walks into the locker room._

" _Amanda, what the hell went on out there?! That wasn't scripted!" Sami says._

" _Are you fucking kidding me, Sami?! Your old pal Kevin is the one who punched me, found it amusing and laughed like a jackal-" Amanda starts to yell, Sami putting his hands on her shoulders._

" _I'm not mad at you, okay? I just want to know why Owens was laughing. He's rough in that ring but not heartless." Sami says._

" _Obviously, he is or he wouldn't have found hitting Amanda funny." Finn says, throwing the tissue away and finding a gel pack, putting it on Amanda's mouth to take the pain away..._

The sound of the rain pouring down on the roof woke Amanda and Finn back up, both shaking their heads.

"Typical Florida. If it's not sunny and humid or rainy and humid from May to September, it's rainy and chilly from Winter to Spring." Amanda says.

"Yeah… hey, you feeling okay? Any pain?" Finn says.

"Mouth still hurts a bit like it did after last week's incident. Other than that, I'm okay." Amanda says.

"Just as I was about to ask you how you doin', Mandy..." Both heard, looked and saw Enzo Amore.

"Sami must be awake if he let Enzo in." Finn mutters, Amanda playfully shoving him and snickering.

"Aw, you two are adorable together. Give it a few years, they'll be some mini versions of you two running around." Enzo says, joking a bit like he usually does.

Amanda buried her face into Finn's shoulder after turning red, Finn lightly hugging her.

Once the three walked downstairs, they were greeted with the mixed scents of coffee, tea, bacon, pancakes and hashbrowns, Sami smiling brightly.

"No matter how bad someone's feeling, they never turn down good food and coffee or tea." Sami says.

"Yeah. Hey, sorry about snapping at you last week, Sami." Amanda says after sitting down next to Finn, Sami setting a plate in front of her.

"It's alright, kiddo. We've all lost our tempers a time or two, we're all human." Sami says before they all start eating.

After breakfast, Amanda was drinking her second cup of herbal tea, the peppermint flavor calming her nerves as she was typing up her list of Christmas decorations for the tree and beverages and snacks for the Christmas party her, Finn and Sami were throwing.

Amanda finished the list, saved it to her Notepad app and leaned against Finn as the two, Sami and Enzo watched _A Charlie Brown Christmas_.

She had good memories of watching the Charlie Brown specials with her family when she was growing up and then watching it with the kids of WWE wrestlers.

"Remembering the good old days?" Finn asks quietly.

"Yeah… a lot has changed since then." Amanda says, handing the empty cup to Sami, who took his and Amanda's cups into the kitchen to rinse them out before rejoining the others in the living room.

Amanda and Finn stayed quiet as Linus explained the true meaning of Christmas, completely locked onto the Tv.

After the special ended, Amanda saw a look on Finn's face… one she had seen earlier.

"What did you do?" Amanda asks, now noticing the scrapes on Finn's hands.

 **Eight hours earlier…**

"Four in the morning and I'm being bothered, this better be-" Corey mumbled as he sleepily opened the hotel door, only to scream out as he was pushed back into the room and thrown against the wall. The door was closed and locked with more force than intended and Corey looked in front of him, seeing an enraged Finn Balor.

"You attacked Amanda… an innocent person who only befriended you and tried to help you when you suffered neurological issues similar to the ones she suffered?! How fucking dare you?!" Finn growled.

"I did what I did in a moment of rage and no logical thought. And innocent? Let's be honest, she's no innocent person! She's done things that would make even Pamela Anderson think twice of doing!" Corey says.

The last part made Finn lose it completely and Finn tackled Corey to the ground, repeatedly punching him. Finn snapped out of it, stood up and left.

Finn quietly walked into his apartment, closed and locked the door to avoid waking Amanda and Sami up before pulling his bloodstained clothes off and walking into the garage, burning the clothes in a trashcan before heading to the bathroom and getting cleaned up.

Once he was back in his pajamas, Finn crept into the room Amanda was sleeping in, climbed into the bed and pulled the covers over himself, falling asleep.

He couldn't believe what he had done… but seeing how Amanda looked earlier and reliving seeing her hit the mirror, bleeding and crying in pain made him snap.

There was going to be hell to pay, he knew that… but he also knew that all reasonable behavior went right out the window whenever Amanda was hurt.


	5. Chapter 5

_Finn looked up as he heard the apartment door open, seeing Amanda kicking off her black cross trainer shoes and white socks, shoving them aside with her right foot after she walked in._

" _That kind of day, lass?" Finn asks. Amanda nodded, groaning in frustration before walking into the living room and flopping down on the couch, moving her upper body up so Finn could sit down._

 _Amanda rested her head in Finn's lap as he lightly rubbed his hand up and down her back, stretching her sore and tired body out, reminding herself to run a hot bubble bath in a bit to take away the aches and soothe her aggravated nerves._

" _If I hit Alexa with one hard punch on the top of her head… I think I can drive her straight into the ground. Either that or crack her skull." Amanda says, Finn knowing that Amanda only said things like that out of frustration._

 _Amanda hated times when she was trying to be professional and someone would just start yelling at her. Today, it was Alexa Bliss and Amanda got fed up, went off and yelled at Alexa before leaving._

 _Amanda was going to catch hell for the screaming match but didn't care at the moment. She seemed to relax a bit more as Finn kissed the side of her head, lightly stroking her hair._

 _With friends like Finn and Sami, Amanda could let her guard down..._

"You think he's gonna press charges?" Amanda asks after Finn had told her what he had done to Corey, Amanda now leaning against Finn and his arms wrapped around her slender shoulders. Before Finn could respond, a knock at the door sounded and both saw a blur of reddish orange hair and half black, half blonde hair.

"Hang on, you two." Finn says after standing up, walking to the door and unlocking it, opening it and letting Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins in, who both ran to Amanda and lightly hugged her.

"You had us scared there, kiddo." Becky says, carefully looking over the injuries Amanda sustained yesterday as Seth's phone rang. Seth looked at it but decided to just let it go to voicemail.

"Leighla giving you hell, Seth?" Finn asks.

"Yeah, I… I'm starting to think I shouldn't marry her." Seth says, remembering when Leighla caught him and Amanda hugging… an innocent embrace between friends, both who were celebrating how the 2013 Slammy Awards were turning out.

And then when Leighla showed up, it all went straight to hell...

" _You bitch! Get your fucking hands off him!" Leighla yelled after Amanda screamed out in shock from being assaulted unexpectedly, Seth immediately pressing a towel to Amanda's wounds._

" _Leighla, Amanda and I were just innocently hugging! What the hell?!" Seth yells at his fiancee._

" _That wasn't innocent, that was-" Leighla yells, Dean and Roman running in and dragging the angered woman out while Seth looked back at Amanda, who seemed to be snapping out of the initial shock._

" _I hope you and her go to premarital counseling beforehand if you decide to go through with it, Sethie." Amanda says, Seth seeing that Amanda's cuts were surface wounds and had already stopped bleeding but he wanted to get her checked out by the doctor anyway and carefully guided her to the medical area as wrestlers started emerging from their respective locker rooms, wondering what the hell happened._

 _Seth couldn't blame Amanda for being concerned for him… he just didn't know how out of control things would get…_

"It's all over the news, the incident at the hotel. I'm not one to say things like this, especially since Corey's in the hospital with a concussion, bruises and broken ribs but he brought it on himself by attacking you, Amanda." Seth says.

"Yeah, you're not normally one to say something like that… especially after I ended up in the hospital earlier this year." Amanda says.

"Yeah because it could've easily happened again, kiddo." Seth says.

"And we'll help you through this, you and Finn are like family to us." Becky says.

Amanda and Finn knew that they would need their friends help, especially with how violent things had escalated to.

After a while, Amanda decided to head upstairs and pull her hair into a messy bun, heading into the bathroom and setting up a hot bubble bath before stripping down and climbing into the clawfoot tub, closing her eyes as the physical and mental damage began to fade away… even if it would only be temporary.

She knew there would be some explaining to do, especially to Stephanie McMahon… but having known Stephanie for years, Amanda knew that if she explained the truth that Stephanie would listen.

At the same time, Corey was waking up in Orlando Regional Medical Center, finding Kevin Owens standing a few feet away from him.

"Damn… why are you here? Don't you have anything better to do, Owens?" Corey asks.

"I figured you could use a friend, given what Finn did. Never took him for the vicious type of person." Kevin says, walking over and sitting down in a chair. "When things turn crazy, people get violent. Amanda's gotten angry and let her temper out before, she's injured other wrestlers as well as paparazzi." He says.

"I lashed out and acted without thought… Finn went and almost killed me. Safe to say he only had one thought in mind and that was to hurt me because I hurt his friend." Corey says.

" _Hurt_ her?! You could've killed her!" Both heard, looked and saw a pissed off Sami in the doorway.

"Sami, I get that you care about Amanda but you and I have known each other for 10 ½ years-" Kevin says.

"The Kevin that I considered a friend wouldn't have found it funny after punching a woman or continue trashing her! Amanda didn't do a damn thing to you and you and her actually got along at first so why did you suddenly started treating her so badly?!" Sami says angrily to the point where he was almost yelling.

"Despite what she has you and everyone else believing, she's not innocent!" Kevin yells.

"If the only thing you're going on is the accusations from 2007 where she was allegedly suicidal and drugged out of her mind because she reportedly knew more about the murder-suicide than she claimed, you need to let it drop completely! She only hurt herself _once_ out of grief! If you had lost someone you considered to be family, you'd do anything to make the pain go away, Kevin! To say otherwise would be hypocritical!" Sami says before leaving.

When Sami exited the hospital, he stopped to let himself calm down... he and Kevin had been friends for a long time but Sami could not bring himself to ignore how Amanda was being treated, especially because he felt that she didn't deserve it.


	6. Chapter 6

" _Mini Cena going for it, launching herself off the ropes like a springboard much like Jericho!" Byron says as Amanda did her hand spring move before spinning around._

" _Oh, damn! That's gonna hurt in the morning!" Finn says after seeing Alexa Bliss get clotheslined by Amanda._

" _Your girl is not gonna play nice with anyone in NXT or WWE, except you Balor." Corey says, Amanda going up to the top rope and jumping off it and causing Alexa to scream in pain as Amanda's feet slammed into her ribs._

 _But Alexa wasn't the only one hurting… Amanda crawled over and pinned Alexa for the three count but couldn't stand up and put any weight on her left leg, Finn leaving the commentator's table and running down to the ring, getting in it and crouching down next to Amanda as the referee tended to Alexa._

 _Once Finn and Amanda were in the backstage area, Amanda untied her left ring boot and took it off to take the pressure off of her injured ankle._

" _Probably just twisted it… damn, I really hope I didn't break that leg again, that was bad enough the first time around." Amanda says, startling Finn._

" _How the hell did that happen, lass?" Finn asks, resting his hands on Amanda's shoulders._

"A _ccidental fall down the stairs just before I turned 12. Spent two months in a cast and wheelchair, humidity can drive someone mad when they have to wear a damn cast." Amanda says._

" _Doesn't mean you have to risk my safety as well as your own in that damn ring! Are you trying to kill us both?!" Alexa screeched as she stormed over to them._

" _Trying to make the matches actually look like wrestling matches! That's what we're supposed to do, we can't be afraid to get hurt in that ring! It's part of the damn job, you bitch!" Amanda says, Alexa attempting to strike her but Finn stepped in front of Amanda._

 _Alexa stormed off, Finn turning back to Amanda and picking her up off of the crate as Amanda grabbed her ring boot._

" _Now that out there… was a well earned victory. I think someone deserves a victory celebration. Let's go get that ankle fixed up first." Finn says, taking Amanda towards the locker room._

 _Finding out that it was just a pulled muscle, Amanda's ankle was braced up and both had left afterwards, heading to the hotel._

 _It was gonna be a low key party for them… Amanda really wasn't good at handling loud parties anymore as those days were long gone..._

After getting ready for the day, Amanda walked downstairs as Sami walked into the apartment, the two hugging.

"Hey, kiddo. You feeling okay?" Sami says as they let go, Amanda nodding.

"For the most part…" Amanda says, trying to stay as calm as she reasonably could… before the temperature in the apartment dropped and she zipped up her Balor Club hoodie as Finn walked over to them and the two hugged.

"I'm… gonna go see if there's a problem with the main source of the heater." Amanda says after they let go, Amanda walking outside.

"She's repressing it again…" Finn says.

At the same time, Amanda reached the side of the apartment and found the heater… only to find a screwdriver lodged in it.

"That's not in the holiday spirit. Damn grinch." Amanda mutters.

But it was at the same time that she turned around to leave that a person masked in head to toe black swung at her with a police baton and she caught it in mid-swing, fighting back… until she was thrown back and her left leg was whacked with it, Amanda screaming as she heard a sickening crack.

The scream attracted Finn and Sami's attention and Sami chased the assailant down as Finn held Amanda in his arms, Amanda screaming in pain and Finn rubbing his hand up and down her back as he dialed 911, a bruised and bleeding Sami eventually returning to them and him talking to the dispatcher as Finn cradled Amanda in his arms.

"Shh… it's okay, it's okay." Finn whispered as he lightly stroked Amanda's hair, Amanda's face buried into his right shoulder as she cried.

She rarely cried unless she was alone nowadays, Finn and Sami knew right away it was bad.

The cracks were forming in the wall that Amanda had built up… and were deep enough that one more hit would bring the wall down entirely.

 **Florida Hospital E.R, Amanda's P.O.V**

Damn it, the madness just never stops!

I looked down at my casted ankle after Finn signed the red cast before handing the marker to Sami, the tibia broken clean through… going about trying to fix things and this happens.

I know from the body shape of the assailant that it wasn't Kevin or Corey… it was a male assailant though, I hope I scratched him hard enough that the skin the cops found under my fingernails is identifiable.

"We're gonna need some place to hide out… he knows where the apartment is." Finn says, lightly stroking my hair…I don't even want to think it but what other choice do we have?

I still have the keys to the house, I don't even want to suggest the idea since it's been 7 ½ years since...

It's in my name, I only stop there to straighten up… the last time I spent the night there was back in February 2007… when they were still alive.

Still, he's right… we need somewhere to lie low.

"Your mind's wandering again, lass." Finn says, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"I know somewhere we can hide out… away from this lunatic." I say, whispering the plan to him as Sami looks at us the second I mention Fayetteville.

"Mandy… are you serious?" Sami asks.

"It's isolated, out of the main city itself… you guys have to trust me on this one, please." I say, both looking at each other.

"She's right, Sami… it's the only reasonable solution." Finn says, Sami nodding.

Hiding out in the last place I thought I'd spend the night… sometimes, you have to go back to the source of the pain to fix what's broken.


End file.
